Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel
Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American
Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that steel import
permit applications for the month of June totaled 2,533,000
net tons (NT).

This was a 1 percent increase from the 2,514,000 permit
tons recorded in May 2008, and a 3 percent increase from
the May preliminary imports total of 2,451,000 NT. Import
permit tonnage for finished steel in June was 2,075,000
NT, an increase of 4 percent from the preliminary imports
total of 1,998,000 NT in May. For the first six months
of 2008 (including June SIMA and May preliminary), total
steel imports were 15,684,000 NT, down 12 percent from
the 17,822,000 NT imported in the first half of last
year. Total steel imports for 2008 would annualize at
31.4 million NT, or 6 percent below the 2007 12-month
total.